Identifying means



MCKENZIE DUIVIAIS.

IDENTIFYING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. II, 1920.

1,381,975. Patented June 21, 1921 PATENT OFFICE.

MCKENZIE DUMAIS, 0F HULL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

IDENTIFYING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J n 21 1921 Application filedOctober 11, 1920. Serial No. 416,226.

T o all whom '52? may concern:

Be it known that I, MCKENZIE DUMAIS, a subject of the Kin of GreatBritain, a resident of the city of ull, Province of Quebec, Dominion ofCanada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in IdentifyingMeans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in identifying means such aschecking tags or tags placed on goods for tax and revenue or otherpurposes, and the objects of the invention are to provide a simple andeffective means for preventing fraud in the use of such identifyingmeans, and especially to provide means by which the identifying portionof the tag which is to be attached to the goods may be firmly andsecurely locked to the goods in such a way that it may be removedwithout destruction.

Further objects are to provide such a means that the tags may bemanufactured in large quantities at low cost, and the locking device maybe of a simple and effective design and better adapted to perform thefunctions required of it.

It consists essentially of the improved construction hereinafterdescribed in detail in the accompanying specification and drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail through the male portion of the lockingdevice.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail through an enlarged scale of a part of thelocking device.

Fig. 4 is a plan View of a female portion of Elle locking device drawnto the same scale as I like characters of reference indicate like partsin all the figures.

Referring to the drawings; A represents the tag conveniently formed inthree separable portions 10, 11 and 12, separated by lines orperforations 13 and 14 or other convenient means by which the tag isweakened along the lines of division.

Each of these portions of the tag bears corresponding numerals and myimproved locking means B is attached to the portion 12.

This improved locking means includes a male member 15 and a femalemember 16 which are attached to opposite ends of a flexible wire 17 orsimilar connecting member. The wire 17 may be attached to the femalemember by any convenient means, as for instance by an inwardly turnedperipheral flange 26 on the female member.

The male member 15 includes an enlarged locking head 18 having a lockinggroove 19 at its base, and a face plate 20 below the locking groove.Beneath the face plate a tubular portion 21 is provided which may bespread to form a rivet by which the device is attached to the tag andflexible member or to the end of the flexible member.

In Fig. 1 the female member is shown attached to a free end of the wire17 while the male member 15 is attached to the opposite end of the wireand to the tag A. v

In Fig. 3, I have shown the female member attached to the free end ofthe wire, while the male member is attached to the tag A.

It is evident that this may be arranged as found convenient, although Ithink the preferred manner is, toattach the male member tothe tag. It isevident that the constructional detail of the locking device may bevaried within the scope of the claim.

The female member 16 includes a socket 22 toreceive the male member anda locking spring 23. This locking spring being bent around the innercylindrical surface of the female locking member and being formed with aparallel spring locking the ends 24 and 25 which extend across the mouthof the socket 22 and are designed to engage it in the locking groove 19on the 'male member as shown in Fig. 3, whereby when the male member ispressed into the female member, the spring ends 24 and 25 will springthe, lock and prevent withdrawal of the male member without destructionof the device.

In using the device for instance as a baggage check, the wire 17 isinserted through the handle or other part of the baggage to be used andthe male and female member locked together. The end portion 10 is thentorn off and given asa check and the inner portion 11 may be used as acounter check in the baggage oflice, while the portion 12 which isattached to the article cannot be removed without destruction of thefastener.

It is evident that a device of this character has a wide application dueto the use as a baggage check which might be applied for instance to thecollection of revenue or sales tax by the tagging of the goods.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many widelydifferent embodiments of my invention within the scope of the claimsconstructed without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it isintended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification anddrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What I claim as my invention is:

In an identifying means of the character described, a flexible member, amale member having an enlarged head of semi-ovoid shape, the under faceof the said head being flat, a face plate beneath the head, arectangular locking slot between the head and face In witness whereof Ihave hereunto set 20.

my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

MCKENZIE DUMAIS.

Witnesses I RUSSELL B. SMART,

ETHEL GARROW.

